


Spider-Man and The Renegade

by calmaekel



Series: Backstories [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Coming of Age, Gen, Irondad, Mutant Powers, Protective Tony Stark, Spider-Man: Homecoming Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:20:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22866220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calmaekel/pseuds/calmaekel
Summary: Pink-haired genius, Calliope Green attended Midtown School of Science and Technology the same way everyone else did-with pain and agony at the next achingly long day. Well, mostly.The telekinesis she had grown into at the young age of nine, definitely helped-but when she decides to use her gift for the health and well-being of her city, she goes on a wild ride.Calliope's BackstoryWritten by Shelby Smith
Relationships: Ned Leeds & Original Character(s), Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Original Character(s), peter parker & calliope green
Series: Backstories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1643659
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter One: The Pounding of One-Thousand Voices

Migraines became a new normal state. The ache of voices speaking all at once, and never caught speaking one at a time. It was a built pressure behind the eyes, forcing in a nauseating feeling that caught in the throat and stayed put. A set of pale hands grew cold and damp at the piling of voices, causing shakes and shivers to cascade their way through the fifteen-year-old’s body. That same set of hands rose and held the temples of the connected shuddering figure. The pointer and middle fingers of each shaking hand pressed gently into the soft fleshy section of the teen’s face. At the short-lived relief the fingers brought, the two arms that bore the hands lowered and wrapped around the small frame. 

“Please, please, please,” A small voice whispered, barely audible over the screams within that same head. A chorus of echoing normal thoughts, _I need to buy bread at the store, but what if we’re out of milk?_ Not a thought of the teen’s own. _That bitch, why’s she got a boyfriend that loves her when all she does is sleep with his best friend?_ The eyes that sat in front of the migraine opened and peered to a set of two girls walking out of the front doors of Midtown School of Science and Technology. Out of the two, the taller, more round one looked upset, almost angry in everything she did, the other, shorter and with a similar frame to a twig looked an angry version of sultry. The glassy, pained eyes peered to the left to see a thin teacher brooding over his phone. 

A hasty breath in. _You can control it._ A thought echoed over the others, a familiar voice. It’s sweet, light tone, caused the shaking to slow. A deep breath in, to be followed by one that went out. Her own voice, _I just need to learn to maintain it_. The small curled up body unfurled from the shell of pain it had hidden in.

“You good, Cal?” a brash voice near screeched. She hastily looked up to see a concerned-looking boy. Calliope rose to her full height and stared with almost comically wide eyes. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” the boy continued. Cal gawked her mouth and sputtered a few syllables that made no coherent sentence to the human mind. The boy’s dark eyes squinted and he let out a laugh.

“Shut up, Dylan,” Calliope stuttered. “It was just another bad headache.” She raised her hand to grab her backpack strap, finding a bare expanse of her t-shirt. She glanced down, worry filling her up again as she scoured the ground for the bag she was carrying. 

Dylan cleared his throat, holding up the bag for Calliope to see. She took it from his hand and slung it over her shoulder. “Dude, what is it,” he rolled his eyes up, “the third headache just this week? Maybe aliens are trying to beam you up, but your willpower is too strong.”

“I doubt it,” He stared her down, she looked back and began walking towards their apartment complex. “What is it with you and aliens, anyway?”

Dylan leaned his head back and let out what could only be described as a howl of laughter. “After the Battle of New York, I don’t know how you couldn’t blame it on aliens.”

“Iron Man took care of the _Chitauri_ , Dylan.”

“Just because the _Chitauri_ are gone doesn’t mean we can’t still wear tin-foil hats, Cal.” They slowed for a stoplight, giving Calliope a second to turn and give a dirty look to the taller counterpart that stood next to her. He looked back and shrugged. “I’m telling you they’re gonna be in fashion one day, and besides, you know it would look good with your pink hair. You can’t change my mind on that bit.”

Calliope laughed and shoved his side, looking up to see the crosswalk light on the walking man, they each began their walk again. 

“Is this why you ask your dad to wrap your sandwiches in tin foil every day? So you can stock up without drawing attention?” Dylan gasped causing a faux offended look to paint over his features. “You can’t change my mind on that.” Calliope mocked. The offended look didn’t leave Dylan’s face. “Either way, I’m gonna use Naproxen, not tinfoil for the headaches.”

“I would tell you you’re wrong for using western medicine, but under the basis they work, I’m not going to.” Dylan grinned, “Oh, are you going to Liz’s party tonight?”

Calliope remembered the invitation, Liz had been very excited to invite her. Though, when Calliope told her about the recurrence of her raging headache, Liz did tell her not to worry about the party, but the invitation was still open. Calliope rubbed her temple, which still throbbed. “I don’t think so, but you should go,” She looked at Dylan, who had contorted his face to one of confusion. “I mean I think I heard that you-know-who is going.”

“Voldemort?”

“Shut up,” Calliope’s nostrils flared. Dylan laughed hysterically at his own joke. Calliope pushed him slightly. His face went back to normal, and they maintained a slow quiet walk until they reached their apartment building.

“I’ll see you on Monday, Cal,” Dylan said turning to walk to the apartment building next to Calliope’s own, “And joking aside, actually take care of yourself.”

“I will, Dylan. See you on Monday.” She turned and walked up the small flight of stairs that led to her family apartment.

When the door pushed open, the sound of a small giggle rang throughout the front of the apartment. “I’m home,” Calliope shouted, causing the giggles to cease and a pair of tiny feet to start pattering towards the front door. Calliope stepped on the back of each of her shoes to slip them off before tugging down her backpack.

Soon, the small pitter-patter of a child’s feet stopped and Calliope felt a short body wrap around the back of her legs. 

“Hi, Callie.” Calliope peered down and looked into the large glassy brown eyes of her four-year-old half-sister. A larger set of steps could be heard from the kitchen coming towards the pair, causing the 3 and a half foot human to squeal. The pupils of the younger dilated as her eyes went extremely wide.

“Come on, Kyla,” Calliope whispered, grabbing hold of Kyla’s tiny hand and sprinting to the pale yellow confines of the younger’s room. Calliope quickly tossed her bag to the side of the room and shut the door.

“Hide in the closet,” the elder stated. Kyla nodded and quickly ran to the closet, her breathing still evening out from the small sprint they had accomplished from the front door to the room they both now resided. The footsteps grew closer, shortly to be accompanied by a very small knock on the bedroom door.

“Who is it?” Calliope sang, despite knowing full well who stood at the other side of the painted white door of her younger sister's bedroom.

The man on the other side, Alf, Calliope’s step-father huffed, “You know me, Cal. Good ol’ Alfie, your best friend.” 

Calliope laughed and cracked the door; she was greeted by the tan-skinned man grinning wildly behind his short, yet thick beard. 

“Where is she?” Calliope smiled at the man’s small whisper.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Alfie.” Calliope looked towards the closet door that had been shut. You could still hear little giggles, now much quieter but still audible from the main door. 

Calliope whispered, “She’s in the closet.” Calliope stepped aside to let Alfie in, he proceeded to go sit on Kyla’s bed, that by some miracle had been made. Calliope couldn’t say the same about her own bed, but watching Alf go from his tall stature to sinking back against the flowery design of the cotton duvet definitely seemed to be pleasing.

“Oh, where has my baby gone?” Alf lifted his hands to his eyes as he fake cried over the “disappearance” of his child. “Nowhere to be seen, my poor Kyla Reese, right before my own eyes.” He faked sniffed in, managing to somehow secure a very real wet sound to the point that it was grotesque. 

Calliope’s face crumpled at the sound, contorting in disgust as she made eye contact with the man and faked gagged. “Absolutely disgusting.”

“I try,” Alf whispered, securing the idea into Kyla’s little mind he was still crying and not laughing at Calliope’s disgust. Alf raised his voice a bit, attempting to make a fake wavering sound. “It’s no use lying around, I must search as far and wide as humanly possible to secure the location of my very young, very mischievous, and very cute daughter.” 

Kyla let out a laugh, just a bit too loud, being followed by a gasp of her very own. Alf grinned at his own successful rouse and stood, regaining his full height, which ended up being significantly taller than both Calliope and her mother, who had been the same height for a few years now. 

“Do I hear my baby once more? Is she okay?” Alf walked to the closet and ducked down where the crack would open up so Kyla couldn’t run, leaving his head turned away from Calliope.

From an outward appearance, she bore two holes into the back of his skull where her eyes met the thick layer of dark brown hair. She stared intently and focused. She breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth quietly. _3, 2, 1!_ Alf’s voice focused itself in her mind while he quickly opened the door, hearing the squeal of the four-year-old. _Got you now._ Alf laughed happily as he scooped Kyla into his arms. Calliope unfocused and watched them, her face straight.

“You good, kid?” Alf asked, and it wasn’t directed at Kyla. Calliope tensed and looked at Alf in the eyes, the same eyes Kyla had, that chocolatey brown. 

“I just had another headache today,” Calliope stated, the man nodded knowing what she meant. Kyla continued to squeal while Alf managed to tickle her side. 

“Weird question, do we have tinfoil?”

Alf shrugged, “Nothing you can say will phase me at this point.” Kyla settled a little bit in his arms, causing him to adjust her and put her over his shoulder. “There should be some in the pantry, your mom just bought some, for God knows why.”

Calliope nodded, and she whispered a small thank you before turning from Kyla’s room and heading to the kitchen to quickly grab the tinfoil. She trod softly, in an almost practice to see how light she could navigate her way, to test herself on stealth. She made her way across the scratched up linoleum, making sure her quiet steps couldn’t be heard, a practice she had grown accustomed to. It felt easier to be quiet in most settings, where people wouldn’t stare at Calliope as she would walk past, she would sink into the background where she could continue to practice without seeming creepy or invasive of people’s space. Being quiet was easy, a safe ground.

She opened the pantry gently and looked over the few boxes of cereal sat directly in her view, she glanced downward and met the sight of the roll of tin foil. She took it up in the pale of her hands and snuck off to her own room for the first time since roughly 6:20 that morning. She walked into the rather small room and sighed, relief flooding her veins at the even more familiar place to her. Her home was like a small breath out, but her room was where all tension left completely.

The walls were a grey color like they had been when she and her mother had moved in with Alf when she was only eight years old. Calliope looked up to see the curtains that loosely hung around her fire escape window blow gently with the very small crack she had left that morning; she stepped closer and opened the window all the way staring out for a moment to survey the people around on the street. Calliope grinned at the small number of people that passed beneath her window before leaning back inside and turning towards her white vanity. She set down the tinfoil on the dresser portion of her vanity and stared at herself in the mirror.

The migraines really did some damage. She looked tired, with the blooming spots of purple bags under her blue eyes, though the purple did bring out the color in her pupils, it didn’t feel attractive in the slightest. Calliope glanced towards her hair, the pink waves that bordered oh so closely at being curls that had been tugged up into an intricate half-up version of messy space buns. The two pale hands worked their way up and tugged at the elastic bands that kept her hair in the shape it was in. Her hair fell down, hitting right below her shoulders. She tugged her fingers through the mess and sorted it a bit before placing one of the elastics in a low ponytail.

Calliope looked at herself, her lips pressing together with a focus so full of confidence and disgust very unfortunately simultaneously. She grabbed the tinfoil again and unrolled a fairly long piece, long enough to wrap around her head. _Maybe Dylan does have a point in trying tin foil_. She folded the piece so it was thinner and double-layered, mostly for stylistic purposes, but also under that false hope that perhaps it might make the dumb “tin foil hat” idea stronger by including a thicker band than the single thin sheet. She stared before huffing in and raising the piece to her head. She wrapped it around until it was tight around her skull, she held the pieces in place before searching for a small piece of tape to use to secure it. Her eyes scanned the end table she had before remembering the small clear tape sitting within her top end-table drawer. She quickly grabbed the tape and managed to take a piece with one hand before she secured the ugly headpiece she designed. The headache slowly ceased its pain. She stared at herself in the mirror once more, her throat rumbling with a laugh.

“This is absolutely ridiculous.” She stated. She stared dead into her eyes before glancing slightly up to see the ugly band around her head. She really did look like a conspiracy theorist wishing aliens would leave her be, despite knowing full well her own “aliens” weren’t aliens at all, rather the inability to control everyone else’s rampant thoughts that flowed through her head. She needed to learn to control it, to center the energy that coursed around her. If tin foil was that answer then so be it. The migraines needed to stop, Calliope stared once more at the signs of tiredness that marked up her face, she couldn’t keep living in pain, the inability to control her power that she hadn’t even had the choice of having.

Calliope huffed once more, turning so she stared at the open window as she had when she first walked in. She took a few steps towards the original source of the small gusts of air, and with the minimal confidence she had, she breathed in and climbed out the window.


	2. Chapter Two: The Ugly Head Piece Has A Glow-Up

There had always been a sort of precision to climbing out of a window. The small calculation you had to make to be sure that you wouldn’t have stepped in the wrong spot and destroy the very breakable bones of your feet. The pink-haired girl had known now what to do after climbing out this same fire escape for so many years. Calliope straddled her leg over the opening and found her footing before completely climbing out of her room and standing on the fire escape. The metal grating pressed a bit uncomfortably against her socked feet, she really should have grabbed a pair of shoes before coming here but hadn’t thought of that prior to leaving.

She watched carefully as the people passed beneath her, the normal flood of mundane small talk never coming to her. She sat closer to the brick of her apartment so she’d be less noticeable with her pale pink hair and now obnoxious headpiece that was metallic and hideous. She looked down at the oncoming people, centering her attention on a heavyset man with a green t-shirt and a dark gray zip-up hoodie. He wore thick glasses, his eyes focused on the road ahead of him. She didn’t have to focus long before she heard a gruff voice speak,  _ I swear to God if I go home and the house is flooded one more time. _ Calliope let out a small breath that was supposed to be a stifled laugh. She continued to watch the man who continued to distractedly walk forward, pulling out a phone and staring fully into the screen.  _ On..  _ his fingers moved across the glass screen,  _ my way. _ Calliope looked before the man to see a construction sign, the man very clearly hadn’t seen it and was still buried in his phone. His trainers scuffed against the pavement, that was gonna hurt.  _ Watch out for the sign, sir!  _ Calliope thought, her eyes still upon the man. He jumped as she began thinking, he looked up and walked around the sign, his steps moving quicker.  _ Who the hell?  _ The man’s gruff voice said once more before he continued. 

“Holy shit.” Calliope’s eyes widened.  _ I can talk to people now too?  _ That hadn’t happened previously. In past times any time Calliope had even managed to sneak by with “practicing” her unusual talent, she had only ever been able to read minds. She hadn’t trusted anyone but Alf to know her little secret, and with a sweet little “Alfie, please,” he had let her use him to practice. They started simple, Alfie would think of one word, a food, a color, something easy so Calliope could relay it to him. He’d high-five her every time she was correct, slowly moving up to intricate things to read, moving from phrases to a paragraph, to even recounting old dreams Alf had yet to tell anyone. They grew closer.

“Knock, knock,” That voice Calliope had grown so used to, spoke. Alf immediately stepped to the window leaning out to see his step-daughter wearing her odd tin foil contraption on her head. “You look so weird, Cal” Alf laughed and then brought his hand outside the window, which he lovingly carried her army green backpack.  _ Oh, right I left that in Kyla’s room.  _ She thought to herself.

“Thanks, Alfie,” She spoke softly. “Oddly enough, this tin foil is helping my headache. I don’t get it. Though it did help me figure something out.” Alf looked on without speaking a word and holding in laughter at her ridiculous new head wrap. Calliope barely had to think before she whispered  _ “I can speak to people in their heads,” _ into Alf’s mind. 

Alf’s eyes widened. “Well, shit.” His eyes shot up to wear the makeshift headband sat on her head. “You might need stronger than that janky tin foil.” Calliope laughed at him, but she respected his words nonetheless. Maybe she could advance further, figure out more depth to her power that she hadn’t yet explored. She needed to build up the stupid headpiece, as stupid it made her look, it did help.

“Yeah,” her mind wandered an extra step. Midtown had a metalworking lab, the robotics team used it for their more advanced robots and drones. “Do you think I could sneak into the metalworking lab at school?”

Alf let out a laugh, “I mean, you can, and if you want me to cover for you, I can.” Calliope grinned, “What’s that friend you walk with? Dylan?”

“Yeah, Dylan.”

“I can just tell your mom that you’re studying with him.” Alf finished his idea, to Calliope’s joy. Her head bobbed slightly causing the tinfoil to slip down her head, she grunted and tugged the foil from her pink hair and setting it on the window sill in front of Alf’s standing position. The headache immediately started climbing back into that ugly nestled spot behind her eyes. She winced at the dull ache. It wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been earlier but it still was considerably noticeable.

“I’m going to the lab on Monday,” Calliope stated, Alf mustered a very small nod, “This headache will not leave, and I need to not look like a dumbass in tinfoil.” Alf grinned widened into a full toothy smile.

“Got it, do I need to sign something to say you have permission, or--”

“I’ll be fine, plenty of kids will be in there. I’ll blend in for sure.”

Monday ran around the corner, and Calliope was met face to face with a nearly empty lab. In one corner stood a thin kid. He had mousy brown hair and was very clearly focused, picking at a small metal object. His face had squished up just the smallest amount so he could stare more intently at this tiny piece that looked to be poking out of some, bracelet? He moved slightly and pushed up a blue hoodie sleeve, revealing nothing more than a very bare expanse of pale skin. He very clearly sensed some level of change within the environment the two now shared and looked up. His eyes widened, and though his irises were a dark, deep brown you could still manage to see the pupils get small.

“Wh-what are you doing here? The lab is closed,” The boy stammered, his face contorted out of the mask of focus and turned abruptly to one of shock, and almost fear set behind what was easy to see. His hands that had been busy at work quickly shuffled the papers to cover whatever he had been working on, but not enough to cover his name that he had printed in shaky writing at the very top.  _ Peter Parker _ was written.

“I could ask you the same question,” Calliope stated, her voice not managing to break. She looked him over again, his body language showing discomfort with her presence. She cast her gaze temporarily to the other side of the lab, completely void of human life and perfect for a bit of work.

Peter’s eyes squinted once more, his once discomfort seemingly morphing into very slight confidence. “I’ll st-I’ll stay quiet if you do.” Calliope grinned at the small stutter he had, she could feel the anxiety exuding off of him.

“Will do,” She moved towards the empty area of the lab. “I’m Calliope,” she gulped back a breath she didn’t know she was anxiously holding, Peter’s eyes turned up his dark eyes to look at her, they looked less fearful now. “Just so that it’s not like, awkward, or something.” Peter let out a small laugh.

“I’m Peter,” He was still quiet, but it was clear he felt more comfortable than he had. “Nice to meet you.” She had to admit that despite the pair’s very short greeting, Peter proved to have more manners than he originally had shown.

“Nice to meet you too,” She replied. She moved towards the empty bench and set her belongings down. Calliope opened her backpack and rifled for a second before pulling out a notebook filled with sketches of what she aspired her headpiece to look like, without looking stupid. She flipped through a few of the designs before flipping to the final one. It was a silver band that would wrap around her head, with a few ornate points, that she would have to dull down so it wouldn’t hurt her. The design she had made was supposed to match the cheap mask she had spent hours making out of wax paper, hot glue, and remnants of an old grey athletic shirt. 

Without wasting much time Calliope gazed around the room for a saw blade, finding one up on the wall. She stepped to the side and grabbed it down, and set it where she was going to work. She gazed around before finding a pair of protective glasses to put on, she tugged them from their spot and also put those where she was keeping her supplies. She craned her head around, peering over her surroundings, Peter was still nestled into his work, very clearly not paying much attention to whatever Calliope had decided to do with her time. Calliope peered towards the left of Peter, finding a box labeled “scraps”.  _ Of course, it’s by Peter, _ She thought. She stepped closer, while being quiet, hoping she wouldn’t disturb what he was doing. She walked to the box, which caused her lab companion to look at her.

Calliope moved a few out of the way before she found a good piece that looked like it could wrap around her head with no welding required. She tugged up the piece and turned, being met face to face with Peter once more. “I’m using this.” She stated quickly and without further consultation of what Peter had to say. He shrugged and turned back to his work. Calliope made a few quick strides back to her workbench and tugged up the metal piece so it was closer to her eyes, she looked at it before peering around and making sure no one was looking in her direction. The room was clean other than Peter, who still had yet to look at Calliope’s workspace. She wasted no time in pressing the metal to her head, the common headache she endured began to cease. Her pink hair swished around her and she looked around, and again she was only met with the back of Peter’s head. She breathed in and focused, the cool metal pressing to her head.

_ Come on, connect, connect, connect, _ Peter’s voice filled her head.  _ You serve no purpose if you can’t just stay put!  _ His voice raised in his head and was followed by an outward grunt. Calliope quickly moved the metal down after seeing Peter begin to whip his head in her direction, she focused downward. Out of her peripherals, she saw him turn back towards his work. She set the silver-plated metal down and stared. She looked at the design she had sketched and tugged out a sharpie from within her bag to draw out the already designed detail. Calliope dragged the ink across the metal, creating a very slightly curved line that appeared to turn into a point in the middle. She copied this in a mirrored effect below it to finish making the band look like it was supposed to, including the very slightest of behind-the-ear pieces to secure it in place.

Once she was satisfied with the results she tugged out the saw blade she had found as well as a thing of sawing wax from within her bag. She waxed the blade and began making her first incision, which just as the videos had suggested, started out quite difficult. She managed though, and throughout the time managed to re-wax the blade when needed and making a rather clean incision.

The lab remained completely silent as she finished out the headpiece. She took up the cut-up piece and looked up. Peter still sat on the opposite end of the lab, quietly working on god knows what. Calliope grabbed the metal gently and raised it up to her forehead before she pressed on the elongated wings that appeared out of the long band. They slowly moved so they sat closer to her head, giving a more snug fit to her skull. She fixed the other side as well and removed her hands, her handy work managing to stay put, and snug.

Calliope looked up to see Peter staring right at her, her headpiece felt more like a beacon now. Even if she took it off, he’d still know about the chunky headband. Her cheeks heated up as they made a strange, too long to be comfortable, eye contact.

“Nice,” Peter said, his voice quiet. He bent and grabbed his backpack, shoving his belongings back in. “I’m finished up for the day. It was nice to meet you, Calliope.”

“Thanks,” Calliope said, “You can call me Cal.” She tugged her hands up to remove the headband so she could put it in her own bag. She wasn’t planning on leaving so early, but it felt almost wrong to stay here without someone to at least cover with.

“Then I’ll see you around, Cal,” Peter said. A smile tugged his lips up and he made an awkward wave before turning and leaving the lab, his pace appeared to be in a hurried manner.

“See you, Peter,” Calliope said. Peter held up a lame peace sign and left the lab. “Weird dude,” Calliope muttered to herself. She zipped her backpack and put it on her back. She put away the stuff she used and quickly followed in Peter’s tracks heading out. Her sneakers scuffed against the tile as she moved, quickly finding a way to the main entrance. She exited the building, and despite being barely a minute behind Peter, not a single trace of him could be found.


	3. Chapter Three: The Birth of The Renegade

Calliope had walked home alone, speaking of, Dylan had already walked home right after school, only leaving Calliope’s phone with a small text that read ‘cal pls im alone’ with a skull emoticon placed at the end. Her eyes rolled up before she sent back a ‘:P’. Her sneakers scuffed against the pavement as she quickly managed her way back to her apartment. It felt weird to not even see the slightest trace of Peter, after leaving just a minute after he had. Calliope sighed and kept moving.  _ It’s not my concern to watch after him _ , she reminded herself.

Soon enough, she climbed the steps that led to her three-bedroom, second-floor apartment and opened the door. The sound of her mother’s music filled her ears, as well as the scent of a meal cooking in the kitchen. She heard her mother’s tune, a song her mother had loved as a child by an old band by the name of  _ Styx _ . Calliope kicked off her shoes and stepped into the house. “I’m home,” She said, her mom’s tune immediately ceased, and her movement immediately turned towards the front of the home where Calliope stood.

Within seconds, the slim figure could be seen from the entryway to the kitchen. “Hey, baby.” Calliope’s mother, Colette, had her dark brown hair tucked into a neat bun, low and loose enough to not tug unnecessarily at her scalp. Her and Calliope’s eyes were a matching blue, they matching sets met at the same level. Her mother’s wrinkled more at the edges, small wrinkles that made it known she had been happy for a while. She wasn’t too old, but Calliope knew that stress had worn her down. She had a 15-year-old and a 5-year-old to take care of, to care and cook for. Colette was a good cook, which you’d hope she was after working for years as the head chef in a fairly good diner in town.

“Hey, mom.” Calliope stepped towards her mother, who smelled just like that years of working cooking, a whole lot of sweet, with a pinch of salt. Her mother pulled her in for a hug, kissing her forehead and smiling at Calliope’s face. “What are you cooking?”

“A pesto chicken pasta,” Colette turned and began walking back to the kitchen, Calliope very shortly in tow. “With the bowtie noodles that Kyla likes. She asked specifically for the ‘cute’ ones, and I’m pretty sure this is what she meant.” Calliope laughed. Colette stopped in the kitchen by a large pot, which must have contained the boiling noodles, along with a saucepan that was filled with pieces of chicken and a sauce that appeared to be a thick pesto alfredo sauce. Calliope’s stomach growled at the bare appearance of it.

“Is there--”

“The garlic bread is in the oven,” Her mother finished, a knowing smile tugged at her lips. Calliope matched the smile. Colette took the wooden spoon, that had been set on the counter right next to the saucepan and stirred the sauce. She had this way about her, intricate in movement that just appeared so natural, almost addicting to watch. Calliope had barely noticed when her mom had began to sing again, that same song she had just been humming.

“Do you need help? I’m gonna put my stuff down,” Calliope said quickly, and almost out of place for the calm atmosphere she and her mother had built.

Colette turned and just looked at her older daughter up and down. “I don’t need help, honey,” She turned her focus back to the pot that sat on the stove, “I’ve been cooking for enough time to know what I’m doing.”

Calliope smiled once more, “Okay.” The tune resumed once more, the song was good. Calliope walked to her room quickly, opening the door and locking it just as quick. She tossed her bag on her bed, turning to her end table that held the mask she had constructed over the weekend. She tugged it out and set it on her bed. She smiled at its appearance, despite it being made of hot glue and horrible sewing her mother would probably chastise her for if she had known about it. Pink hair swayed behind Calliope’s head as she turned to face her closet, where she had also placed an old navy blue windbreaker, christened with a large white chevron in the center, and a pair of tight, matching blue leggings, both of which she had bought at a thrift shop. 

She took a moment to remove her own clothing, tugging the jeans down her hips and replacing them with the navy leggings, and just tugging the windbreaker on over her white t-shirt. She looked at herself in her vanity mirror. She looked a little dumb in the outfit, but it also made her appear to look unlike herself. She donned the mask and made eye contact with herself again. She had to admit, she looked pretty badass. She made sure the mask was snug, non-slipping against her skin. Her appearance grew to be, almost stronger and most definitely more confident in stature. She made sure hair was neat in a low ponytail before she opened her bag and tugged the metal headband, that she had just made, out before putting it on as well.

Calliope looked so different, you could only see her eyes, eyebrows, and hair, which in itself looked so different than normal. She stared at herself in the mirror, raising her arms and testing out a few poses, like flexing, and showing off her fists. She felt looked ridiculous but she felt so, so good. It was as if she didn’t have to hide her power in this dumb outfit, and those self-defense classes her mom made her take were finally gonna pay off.

She removed the navy clothes, well, suit at the sound of Alf and her little sister entering through the door. She stripped quickly and tugged her jeans back on before she opened the door to head back out to the kitchen.

“Hey, mom?” Calliope said as she scrambled out to the kitchen again. _Think quick, how to get out for a while._ She was met with the view of her little sister, dressed in blush leotard, wrapped around her mom’s waist. Her mom looked away from the pots and directed her vision towards her pink-haired daughter. _It's now or never._ “There’s a book I need to check out at the library, is it alright if I walk there after dinner?”

Colette looked at her daughter and responded with a small sigh. “Yes, sweetheart, just be home before 10. You have school tomorrow.”

“Thank you, mom. I’ll be back by then.” Calliope said, her mom turned back to the pot.

Colette gasped and quickly turned back to face her daughter, “Homecoming is Saturday, and we need to get your dress back from the store.” 

Calliope’s eyes widened,  _ Shit _ . “I forgot about homecoming.” 

“How can you forget about homecoming?” Alf’s voice filled her ears, causing Calliope to jump, and Alf to laugh. “Cal, you can’t forget the night you’re gonna look like a princess.”

Calliope laughed and turned to him. “You!” Calliope fake punched him in the arm. Alf let out another loud laugh before tugging Calliope into his arms and kissing the top of her head. Colette laughed at the pair and scooped up Kyla from the ground. Calliope pushed Alf off of her and they laughed as they began a fake fight of poking each other.

“Once you two are done bickering, dinner is ready.” At the light sound of Calliope’s mother’s voice, the pair ceased their fire.

Shortly after dinner ended, Calliope found herself stepping outside with a backpack that held her suit she had built. She walked quickly and managed to sneak her way into a rather empty alleyway and quickly switched into the clothing, zipping up the windbreaker all the way and putting on the mask and headband. She shoved her old clothing back into the bag and shoved under a dumpster. She stood back up and looked at the location, it wasn’t too far from her apartment, making it easy to find for later. She began walking towards the exit of the alleyway before something caught her eye, a second backpack that appeared to be hung up by some sort of, spider-web? She brushed it off before stopping before the entryway.

_ Am I stupid? _ Calliope thought,  _ I can’t walk out of this alleyway looking like this _ . Calliope turned and began walking through the back alleyways, of course, all of them connected. She began walking through before she heard something, it wasn’t much but it did sound a very small amount like a small whip. Calliope walked to the edge of the alleyway before seeing someone in a blue and red pair of sweatpants, a red balaclava with an almost steampunk looking pair of goggles. Calliope stepped out into the street to watch him chase after a man on a bike. Calliope began running and followed him,  _ Oh shit! That’s Spider-Man. _

Calliope began running and slowly caught up with Spider-Man. His head whipped to the side before turning back to the possible perpetrator. “Uh, who are you?” His voice spilled as he kept running, his voice barely sounded out of breath.

_ Shit, cool name, cool name, cool name, _ her thoughts began,  _ what was that song? _ She thought of that tune her mom had hummed while she was cooking.

“Renegade.” Her voice didn’t sound out of breath either, maybe those self-defense classes she had taken with her mom helped from all those years ago.

“Okay, Renegade, what can you do?” Spider-Man said, the two still keeping up with the other. Calliope turned her attention forward towards the dude on the bike.

“That bike is stolen?” She asked Spider-Man, who muttered a quick “uh-huh” before Calliope, well Renegade focused for a second on the back of the man’s head. He rode the bike with vigor.  _ Left, come on, lose that bitch, _ the foreign voice flooded her mind. She fought it,  _ If you turn left you’ll have a big problem on your hands _ . The man physically looked up, clearly scared, and his vigor clearly shot. The bike wobbled, and Spider-Man and Renegade made more distance close to him. Spider-Man thwipped his web shooter and grabbed the end of the bike, clearly startling the man, who fought the force of the web grasping the back of the bike.

“The hell?” the dude’s voice raised over the crowding of Queens’ noisy streets. Calliope thought,  _ If you move you’re about to have a lot more problems. _ Calliope thought about him raising his hands and watched as he did exactly that. The dude clearly wasn’t doing it against his will, yet he appeared to not want to do what he was doing.

“That’s a pretty sweet power, Renegade,” Spider-Man spoke with an air of confidence. he stepped up to the man and webbed his hands behind his back. Calliope chuckled to herself and turned towards the two.

“Thank you,” She said, her eyes looked up and down the suit, “I know we’ve just stopped grand theft bicycle--”

Spider-Man interrupted, “I knew I wasn’t the only one who says that!”

Calliope coughed, “What happened to your suit?”

Spider-Man looked down and put his arms to the side, he fake gasped and looked back up, “I-I wear this suit sometimes.” He tugged at the blue sleeve, not to alter the area of the web-shooter but in almost an “I-don’t-know-what-I’m-doing-I’m-awkward” motion. He only appeared to have one on, which accentuated the entirety of him in general. She looked at his head behind the red ski mask looking thing and read,  _ I can’t tell her _ , was all he said.

“Can you two stop small-talking and actually like let me go or something?” The gruff voice said. Calliope turned her attention to the guy and entered his mind,  _ Quiet _ . He muttered a quiet “sorry” before sitting still once more.

“It’s fine,” Calliope supplied the empty void of conversation, “So, what do you do after this?” Calliope’s eyes directed themselves back towards the boy in the red and blue. He crossed his arms over his chest and appeared to look the crook up and down.

“I usually leave a note.” He stated. His stance remained.

“A note?”

“Yeah.”

Calliope raised her fingers to grab the very small amount of nose that was exposed. “And that works?”

“Yeah,” He said, again. “I sign my name too, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.” His head whipped from side to side, a clear sort of discomfort in realizing maybe his note leaving wasn’t as fun as he thought. “It’s-It’s, uh--”

“Cool,” She finished, feeling the tension she had accidentally built get relieved by a sigh coming out of his mouth. “I mean you might as well get your name known, right?” He laughed a bit and pulled out a piece of paper, apparently per his normal. The note had already been pre-written when he tugged it out, and he looked at Renegade.

“I can’t put just my name on here,” He said, by some miracle pulling out a permanent marker from his makeshift utility belt. He scribbled with an almost childish handwriting,  _ ‘+Renegade’ _ . Calliope felt as if she’s seen the handwriting before, in a weird sense of deja vu. “There we go.” Spider-Man said, taping the sign to the man’s front and put his hands on his hips. “Now we both get credit where credit is due.” He lifted his hand and the two’s hands met in a high five.

The two tugged the man off the bike and left him sat against the brick wall before the two took the bike and paraded it back down the path the man had taken until they found the owner of the bike. The man was clearly an older gentleman, a set of dark sunglasses and a receding hairline, though he thanked the team well.  _ The team _ . That was new and quite welcome in Calliope’s mind.

A feeling set in her stomach of content, a bout of warm spread across her stomach. It felt like a new home. Spider-Man turned to her and shook her hand awkwardly. 

“Thanks, Renegade,” he said, she could see the mask move enough to know a smile was etched underneath the red balaclava. Calliope grinned. She liked being able to use her power without fear, where she wasn’t scared of her family getting the wrong idea as she would practice.

“No problem, Spider-Man,” She replied. She looked up at the sky, seeing the sun going down. “What time is it?” She asked him. 

Spider-Man reached his hand into his pocket and tugged out an already cracked, to the point it looked destroyed, phone and glanced at it. He head poked back up and he said, “8:46,” really quickly.

“Shit,” Calliope said, “Sorry, I have to go. I told my mom I wouldn’t be gone long, but it looks like time just flew by.”

“Yeah, it seems to do that,” Spider-Man said, his voice still so familiar, yet so far away. “Please tell me we can tag team again? I usually work alone, but you weren’t invasive like I was afraid a partner would be.”

Calliope laughed, “Sure thing, Spidey.” Calliope turned and began walking away, she flipped for a second, “Do people like us just turn and walk away? Or is there a different thing you can teach me tomorrow?”

The other hero laughed, “For a first-timer, you’re pretty good.”

Calliope grinned under the confines of her hot glue mask, “Thanks.” She laughed a good hearty laugh and continued on her way back home.


	4. The Dropped Vial and Its Hot Gossip

A fierce burn fired through Calliope’s body as she awoke, stretching her body fully, and hearing the sound of her morning alarm. She raised her hand and wiped her eyes as she turned off the intolerable beeping. She glanced at the time and sighed at the sight of the numbers lit up in red.  _ Too early… _ She inwardly groaned sitting up and glancing at the calendar she pinned up on the wall. Friday. She looked at the alarm clock seeing the time glaring its red numbers, 6:00 am.

Calliope stood and turned off the alarm laying back down in her bed and staring at the nothingness of her white ceiling. She breathed in and out and sat up once more, taking a black hair tie off her wrist and haphazardly taking her light pink hair into a high ponytail. She stood and quickly changed into a school outfit, a pair of jeans and a grey hoodie. She glanced at herself in her vanity mirror and saw her own tired eyes, the slight bloodshot making them appear a bit bluer than they normally did. “I look high.” She stated to herself, “Great.”

She leaned down and grabbed her backpack, tugging it over her shoulders and walking out of her room to the kitchen. The room was filled with gentle light from the streetlamp outside. She found the lightswitch, quickly hitting the switch and squinting at the added fluorescent light. She stepped forward opening her pantry and grabbing a bag of crackers to eat. She took her backpack off and shoved the cracker bag into it. She put her backpack back on, feeling a simultaneous buzz in her back pocket.

She reached to her pocket and pulled out the phone, revealing a text from Dylan. “i am outside, join me” the message read. Calliope put her phone back into her pocket and turned on her heel to put her shoes on.

She was met with a crazy mess of curled black hair as she exited her apartment. He grinned at her entrance, his smile making even his all-black outfit appear cheerful. “Good morning, Cal.” 

Calliope smiled back at him, and his radiant amount of happy. “Why are you so happy? It’s 6:30,” Despite her teen angst, her lips kept the smile. Dylan laughed and shoved his hands into the pockets of his black denim jacket. The pair turned from the apartment complex and began to make their way down the street and towards Midtown High.

“Homecoming is tomorrow, and I,” He paused, sucking in a bit of air, most likely for dramatic detailing in what he was about to say, “have a date.” 

Calliope gasped, her smile stayed. A warm feeling filled her gut and she looked at him fully. “No way,” Dylan nodded, “You’re pulling my leg.”

“No, I am not!” Dylan near squealed.

“So, who asked?” Calliope asked, she herself getting a bit giddy at Dylan having a date.

“Michael.”

“No fucking way,” her jaw dropped in shock. Dylan had gawked over this tall, brown-haired, brown-eyed boy for the past month. “I thought you said he didn’t know you even existed?”

“Well, apparently I was wrong!” He sounded exasperated, “My creepy staring may have paid off after all, though I didn’t actually think he was gay at first.” The pair laughed. He looked up quickly as if he had forgotten to say something. “Did that tinfoil thing ever work?”

Calliope’s eyes grew in size and she looked at the boy confused. “What?”

“With your headaches? You spent a ton of mornings complaining about them, but as it turns out— after yours truly suggested a min-control blocker of tin— you haven’t complained about them.” He stated. 

Calliope stumbled for words but came up with a small, “I figured something out,” Dylan smiled at the response Calliope gave, “And there isn’t tinfoil in what I figured out.”

“Damn, win some you lose some.”

The pair came up upon the school and barely had a chance to breathe in before they were interrupted by a teenager huffing for breath as he turned towards Calliope. “I need to ask you, like, a weird favor.” Calliope looked him up and down, it was Peter, his hair appeared mussed and his face was red.

“Are you okay, Peter?” Calliope asked, leaning back away from the boy. 

Peter glanced up and nodded, a thumb sticking up. “Yeah, perfect,” Peter finally stood to his full height and put his hands on his hips. He looked Dylan up and down. He reached out an awkward hand, “I’m Peter.”

“Dylan.” Dylan took Peter’s hand and shook it. He gave Peter a simultaneously awkward smile.

Peter’s eyes moved from Dylan and landed back on Calliope. “I got a date to homecoming.”

“Liz?” Calliope asked, he had mentioned her in the lab two days prior, and Calliope had only assumed that maybe he had managed the courage to ask. Peter nodded at Calliope’s statement. “Good for you, Pete.” She patted his back, a grin covered his face.

“That’s where the favor comes in,” His grin stayed. “Ned doesn’t have anyone to go with, and I don’t want to just abandon him.” Calliope’s eyes went a bit wider than normal, Peter continued, “Assuming you don’t already have a date.”

“I-I don’t,” Calliope was rendered a bit speechless. She hadn’t really thought of having a date to homecoming, but the idea felt nice. She did have friends that she could always hang out with if she didn’t choose to go with Ned, but who was to say her friends hadn’t got dates? “I’ll go with him, but shouldn’t we know each other before?”

Peter smiled wide, “Hold on,” his head bobbed up and looked over the crowd of people that had begun to pour into the high school’s doors.

Dylan tugged Calliope’s sleeve, grabbing her attention and whispered, “Good luck,” and walked towards the tall brunet he had spoken of earlier.

Calliope’s attention went back to Peter who apparently had caught sight of his friend. He lifted a hand and waved him over. Calliope turned to see a shorter, dark brown-haired guy walking over.

“Hi.” He said, showing his hand and waving a tiny bit. He wore a maroon polo, with a navy hoodie that covered the bottoms of his hands. Calliope smiled at the small gesture, her teeth showing at it. “I’m Ned.”

“Calliope,” She said quickly, noticing Peter about to start talking before tacking on “You can call me Cal.” Ned smiled back. Peter smiled at the pair.

“Ned, this is the friend I was talking about to you,” Peter turned to Calliope, “Are you two good to go together? I don’t want things to be weird.”

“Peter,” Calliope’s lips quirked up into a smile, “As long as you’re present it’s gonna be weird.”

“Wow, thanks,” Peter deadpanned.

“That was awesome,” Ned whispered, a small amount of shock appearing on his face. “I think we’ll be fine.” 

Peter’s face built a small amount of fear, “Please, Ned, don’t learn from her.” Ned laughed at the assumption, and Calliope laughed with him.

Ned ignored what Peter said and began talking to Calliope, “So, do you want me to pick you up at your house? My mom will probably be driving, I can’t drive but I can still pick you up if you want,” Ned sucked in a large breath, as though his nervousness was engulfing him, “Unless you’re uncomfortable and you’d rather meet me here, I mean it would be a lot less formal to give you the corsage here--unless you don’t want a corsage? I don’t even know what a corsage is, my mom mentioned them like once--”

Calliope cut him off, “I can send you my address, and a corsage would be lovely. I’m sure your mom can help you, she sounds wonderful.” His nervousness seemed to fade at her words. “I’ll put my number into your phone,” She reached out her hand to take his phone. He shakily grabbed it and handed it to her. She typed in her number and name and handed back the phone. “There you go, just send a text so I have your number too.”

His grin became a little dopey and he muttered an ‘okay’. She felt her phone buzz and looked down to see a message.

“Awesome,” She put in his contact and looked at him, “I’m gonna get to class, I’ll send you my address when I get there,” She looked at Peter who awkwardly stood and watched, probably waiting to talk to Ned alone. “I can’t wait to get to know you more, and Peter, I’ll see you in the lab later?”

Peter nodded, “Yep. See you then.”

Calliope said her own goodbye and walked to her class to start her day. She texted her address to Ned as she had promised but slowly fell into a conversation with him. It was easy, and time passed quickly, by the time she took off her backpack to begin to work in the lab with Peter, it felt as though no time had passed.

“Hi, Peter,” She said. Peter grunted back, clearly very invested in his work. He fiddled with that same band he had been working on, and now that the two had decided to work at the same bench. Calliope tugged out the beginning of her pendant for the center of her headpiece, which was only really had a sketch and a bent piece of metal.

The two worked in peace, as they had done each of the following days prior. It was a nice bubble they built, Calliope working on her headpiece, Peter fixing his wrist-band looking thing. Peter worked quietly, occasionally looking down almost to the floor, reaching down and messing with something. Calliope didn’t mind the weirdness he exuded, she also had a bit of weird to go around.

Calliope quickly pieced together the base of her headpiece’s pendant, making a small diamond shape with the thin metal. She hummed in peace, lifting it to see through it. The diamond shape was smooth, cool to the touch. She glanced at Peter, he was bending down again and looked to be frantically pouring something, well based on the fierce bite he had on his lip and the aggressive stare he had at whatever he had below the workbench.

His phone lit up, vibrating with an incoming call, causing both of them to jump. Peter quickly swiped his hands up and snatched up his phone, “Sorry,” he finished. He quieted his voice and spoke quietly. Calliope went back to her work, before hearing him mutter a very quiet explicative. Her eyes peered up again, to see Peter, with his phone tucked away again, quickly piling his stuff up into his bag. He placed a white, liquid-filled container into the spot a water bottle would go, he stood and turned to Calliope.

“I have to go,” He said. His backpack turned quickly, throwing the strange bottle out of its pocket. Calliope looked at it, still filled with strange fluid, managing to read the label,  _ WEB FLUID _ , written in scribbly big letters. Peter quickly grabbed it and ran to the door. Calliope watched him run as the cogs turned in her head. The matching handwriting, similar voice, hell, even the second backpack she had seen webbed to the wall.

“Bye,” She said after him, and at once it clicked, “Holy shit.” Calliope rose her hand and tugged nervously at her ponytail. “Peter is Spider-Man,” She whispered, “Oh my god,” She took in a deep breath and looked back down at her belongings. She was supposed to go on watch with Spider-Man in just two days, was she supposed to just confront him about his identity?

Calliope let go of her thoughts and packed her belongings to head back to her family’s apartment.

Letting go of her thoughts wasn’t as easy as she had hoped, by the time Saturday had rolled around and she had spread a shimmering pink eyeshadow across her eyelid, she still couldn’t shake her discovery out of her head.  _ He is Spider-Man. What the fuck is my life? _ She continued making her crease just slightly darker. She hummed to herself, “Not thinking about it, not thinking about it.”

Her door creaked open, Calliope’s eyes bounced up, toward her door to see her mother walking in with a smile on her face. “What are we not thinking about?” She carried a garment bag that contained Calliope’s dress.

“Looking like an idiot, I guess,” She said, not directly lying. She didn’t want to make a claim to Peter and scare him, despite being almost one hundred percent certain.

Colette rolled her eyes gently and laid the bag out across the bed. She moved smoothly as she unzipped the bag to reveal the sleeveless blush dress they had picked out a few weeks prior. “You won’t,” Colette grabbed the dress out and smoothed down the silk skirt. “And if someone even tries to make you feel like one, you call me and I’ll beat their ass.”

Calliope laughed, “Thank you, Mom.”

“Always, baby,” Colette leaned in and kissed the top of Calliope’s head. “Now you’ve got to put on your dress because I want pictures of you.”

“As long as my makeup looks fine,” Calliope turned so her mother could witness the full-glam look she had created.

“You look beautiful,” Her mom said, “I think pink is your color.”

Calliope laughed again, “Thank you,” Calliope stood, and smoothed out the bathrobe she wore. “Now go so I can make myself your picture slave.” Colette left after a small laugh, leaving Calliope to put on her dress. Calliope removed the robe and tugged up the dress, zipping up the back as much as she could.

“Mom, can you zip me up?” She shouted out her door, to which her mother immediately opened the door as if she hadn’t left after all--also causing Calliope to jump in the process.

“Sorry, I was excited,” Colette’s face turned the slightest of pinks as she grabbed the zipper and finished zipping up the dress, leaving the material tight around her frame excluding the skirt that draped kindly at her legs, peeping only the littlest bit of her flat white sandals. “You look like you came out of one of those fairytale books I used to read to you when you were four and still loved me.”

Calliope rolled her eyes, “I’m supposed to be the dramatic one around here.”

“Oh, hush,” Colette sighed, she stepped back to take in Calliope’s look fully. “You know you’re still the most dramatic no matter how hard I try.”

Calliope scrunched her nose and let out a big smile, “Thank you.”

A creak stopped the chatter, “Daddy, come look at Callie!” Kyla squealed, she bounced and looked at her older sister. “She’s a princess!” Heavy footsteps followed as Alf also greeted Calliope in her outfit. Kyla continued to twirl excitedly. Alf grinned at Calliope.

“You do look really good, Cal,” Alf crossed his arms but remained smiling, “You clean up well.” 

“I need my camera!” Colette said and bounced out of the room, Calliope left as well, Alf and Kyla tailing shortly behind. Colette greeted them and flashed a picture quickly, Cal’s hand quickly flying up to block her eyes.

Before Calliope could flinch again, a knock sounded at the front of the apartment. Calliope strode very quickly to the door, opening the door to see Ned standing with a big grin and a yellow corsage in his hands. “Hi, sorry, I think I’m late,” He said quickly, he took in what she was wearing, “Wow.”

Calliope’s cheeks turned a light pink. “Thank you.” She looked him up and down, he wore a tan suit with a blue shirt and a small pink bowtie. “You look really nice too.”

He grinned, his eyes squinting and his teeth showed, “Thanks! I matched my tie to your hair, not that it matters that much, I just thought it’d be cool. Oh,” He raised his hand and handed her the yellow corsage, “My mom helped me pick this out, we didn’t know what color your dress would be so I looked at your Instagram, not in a creepy way I just wanted to know what would look best, and we follow each other and--”

“Ned, thank you. The corsage is absolutely lovely,” Calliope grabbed it out of his hand and opened the package carefully. She gently took out the flower and held it out to Ned, “You want to help me put this on?”

Ned’s hand reached out and grabbed the flower, “I think I might mess it up.”

“I’m telling you right now, I can not and will not do any better.”

His grin continued, except it grew the slightest bit larger. He took it and helped to fasten it on her wrist, Calliope smiled wide, “Thank you.” Calliope turned to see her mom snapping a few flash-free photos of the pair.

“Can I get a few pictures of you two?” Colette asked, despite already taking pictures of them, “Oh, and I’m Colette, Calliope’s mom.” She held a hand out, leaving the other gripping her camera.

“Hi, Miss Colette,” Ned shook her hand, he stuttered, “I think some pictures are nice.”

Colette turned to Calliope, “I like him, keep him.” Calliope’s cheeks turned a bright shade of pink. They took pictures with Alf and Kyla and made sure to capture everything they could. They escaped 15 minutes later to head to Ned’s mom’s car.

“Sorry, my mom sometimes delights in being embarrassing me,” Calliope said, her cheeks still pink.

“It wasn’t that bad, she was nice,” Ned said, “and my mom can be the same way sometimes.”

“Oh, look at you, sweetie!” A Filipino woman, presumably Ned’s mom, squealed as the two walked to the car. “You are so beautiful!” The woman was heavier-set but it only made her smiling face look even more joyful as she smiled at the pair. She held out a hand to shake Calliope’s thin, pale hand. “I’m Alana, Ned’s mom.”

“I’m Calliope, but I think Ned has already told you,” Alana kept her grin, “It’s nice to meet you.”

Ned cleared his throat, and his cheeks flushed the slightest of pinks. “Can we go to the dance?” 

Alana laughed gently and pinched Ned’s cheek. “Of course, kuya.” She turned her attention to Calliope, “Let’s get going then. I love your dress.”

Calliope’s cheeks kept their pink. “Thank you very much.” Ned opened the door for Calliope to get in, he helped make sure the long dress didn’t caught in the door before he got in and Alana drove them to the school.

Ned opened the door back up for her when they got to the school, which by that point he had adorned his “cool hat” with Calliope’s encouragement. They walked into the school and met with Michelle Jones and two other kids from the academic decathlon team.

“Cal, right?” Michelle said, Calliope nodded, they had chemistry together and had previously been in a group together.

“Yes,” Calliope smiled. “And you’re Michelle?”

Michelle’s lips stretched, “Yup.”

Calliope felt Ned move and turned to see what was happening, she turned and met eyes with Peter. They appeared large and filled with fear. Liz appeared to have already walked in in front of him directly to a group of her friends, where she stood dancing peacefully. Peter peered in through the window of the door. He looked… clammy. Ned waved at him with a kind smile, Michelle raised a middle finger with a grin. Calliope smiled and waved too, similar to the way Ned had.

Peter’s facial expression did not change. His eyes shifted uneasily away from the small group, he pushed the door and he walked to Liz. Calliope wanted to read him, but was that wrong? He must have been having a pretty nerve-wracking night, and that had to be a major breach of privacy. “What’s up with him?” She said instead.

Ned shrugged, Michelle seemed to not care at all. “It’s Peter,” Ned said, “If something is wrong he’d tell me.” He turned to the small group.

Calliope kept a watchful eye as Peter said something to Liz and ran out. Calliope tugged Ned’s sleeve. “I think something’s wrong,” She said.

Ned turned and looked, “Oh, shit,” Ned raised his hand and covered his mouth, “I am so sorry, but I need to go check on him.” 

Calliope nodded her head, “Okay.” Ned grabbed her hand for a second, and squeezed, leaving her with a little smile that traveled from his to her face. Calliope’s cheeks felt warm, and appeared a slight pink, that she was sure didn’t come from the many bodies that also stood in the school’s gymnasium. 

She turned around to see Michelle, she had a slight grin. “Nice.”

“I’m gonna follow him, I’ll be back,” She said before she could think of the weight that might have carried. Calliope stormed out of the gym, and into the hall where she briefly caught glimpse of Peter shoving a red ski mask, fitted with those weird steampunk type goggles, over ruffled his hair. She saw Ned sneak after him, unaware of Calliope, and Peter, the now-confirmed Spider-Man, unaware of either of them.

Calliope’s eyes widened, and with what she had seen--what had been confirmed, she turned back around and walked back into the gym.

“I’ll admit, that was faster than I expected,” Michelle said as Calliope walked back up to her, the other decathlon kids had walked away.

Calliope stuttered for a second, “It wasn’t my place to interfere, as much as my nosiness wants to know--my morals kicked in.”

“I wish I could relate, I just do what I want.” Calliope laughed at Michelle’s blunt honesty. Michelle kept her stoic grin and crossed her arms as the music amped back up. Ned came and stopped back in a few minutes later, placing his “cool” hat on Calliope’s head and apologizing that he needed a little bit longer than expected.

He came back about fifteen minutes later with reddened cheeks, yet a happy grin. Calliope returned the grin, and eventually the hat as well.


	5. Chapter Five: The Newest Intern at Stark Industries

Monday morning felt like a whirlwind, rather the whole weekend had felt insane. News articles had lit up with Peter’s shaky images--well, Spider-Man’s--and how he’d captured Adrian Toomes, who had been nicknamed “The Vulture” by media outlets, by stopping a heist of Avengers Tower’s last goods from their move to a new location.

A weird sense of pride and fear swelled over Calliope’s being, she was Peter’s friend and he could have been  _ killed _ . Hell, had she had the balls to follow him into that situation she could have been killed--but he hadn’t been. Peter was smart, and he had managed to take out the Vulture successfully. Though, by getting rid of Mr. Toomes--Peter also unfortunately rid the school of the intelligence of Liz Toomes.

As Calliope walked into the school she was met with the sight of a few teenage girls consoling a crying Liz with a box of her locker belongings. For some reason, despite everything that had happened to her, Liz still managed to look good in appearance. She stood tall, and despite the fear she must have had for her and her mother--she looked confident. _Confident she’s about to break down._ _Shit_. Calliope walked near and looked sadly at her.

“I don’t know what to say to make any of this better,” Liz looked her way solemnly, a tear dripped from her eye. “So I’m not gonna try to make anything better, but know that you have my phone number and I always have an open ear for you to vent to.” Liz drooped her head and rested it on Calliope’s shoulder, warn tears touching Calliope’s shoulder. Calliope patted her back and breathed in. She hadn’t really felt like she was gonna cry before--but the sight of someone being so helpless changed that.

“Thank you, Cal,” She sniffed, “Everything just sucks right now.” Liz lifted her head and gave a small smile, it didn’t carry to her eyes. Calliope returned a toothless smile. Liz’s mother let out a small cough from behind her.

“I’m so sorry but we need to start heading out,” Mrs. Toomes’ voice wavered, the sound of heartbreak evident. “I can take your box, sweetheart.” Liz handed over the box to her mother and finally wrapped her arms around Calliope.

“Goodbye, Cal.” She said, releasing her grip.

“Bye, Liz. Stay safe out there.” Liz let out a hoarse laugh and stood still. Calliope heard more footsteps from behind them--more people coming to wish Liz well. Calliope breathed in and turned as Liz got stopped by the blonde-haired news girl, Betty Brant. Calliope walked to her class filled with a weird mix of sadness and worry.

**∽•∽•∽**

Peter Parker always tried to do what was right, and oftentimes he would land himself in borderline dangerous situations just to keep others safe. That was the good-guy thing to do, right? Peter knew from the moment he saw Happy in the school’s bathroom he must have done something good. He felt a nervous bubble surround him as Happy told him they were going to the Avenger’s Compound to see Tony Stark. He felt nervous seeing Mr. Stark once more, especially after where they had left off last time.

Peter hadn’t meant to, but Mr. Stark’s words felt blurred, he seemed happy, almost, in a fatherly way--almost proud? Reality decided to set in as they walked past the end of a large window that oversaw a few Quinjets. Mr. Stark was walking them towards a door. Peter breathed in heavily, “Mr. Stark, I really--”

Mr. Stark cut him off, “You screwed the pooch hard. Big time. But then you did the right thing. Took the dog to the free clinic, you raised the hybrid puppies... All right, not my best analogy,” Mr. Stark breathed for a minute, Peter breathed in a beat, “I was wrong about you. I think, with a little more mentoring, you could be a real asset to the team.”

Peter stopped, Mr. Stark’s arm continued to nudge him forward, “To the… To the team?”

A nod, “Yeah, anyway,” Mr. Stark’s hand rose and waved to the door that they had previously been walking to, “There’s about fifty reporters behind that door. Real ones, not bloggers.”

Peter felt his heart skip a beat. He had dreamed of this day since he was little since he had asked May for all the Iron Man toys the stores had to offer, since he had met Iron Man while wearing the mask he had got for his birthday and told him “Nice work, kid.” He had dreamt of being the good guy other kids could look up to, to know it wasn’t just adults that could save the day. Peter watched Mr. Stark mess with a few buttons on his watch, from right beside the door a circular compartment opened up and out came a metal suit in some of the most beautiful colors he had ever seen.

“When you’re ready… Why don’t you try that on? And I’ll introduce the world to the newest official member of the Avengers: Spider-Man.” Peter could only take a few seconds off of the suit to look at Tony Stark’s grin, he looked proud.

“I…” Peter began, but he became distracted by the suit instantly again. He looked over it, the smoothness of the red, gold, and blue metal--the way it already appeared to look his size. This was made for  _ him _ , for  _ Peter Parker _ . This was what it was like to be the good guy, to be an  _ Avenger _ .

“Yeah. Give that a look.” Mr. Stark stated. Peter laughed.

What would patrolling the streets become? Being a good guy was fun, and Avenger sounded like the best. Mr. Stark began speaking again to Happy, but the words never entered Peter’s brain. He remembered the other few days running the streets with Renegade, she was newer but what would become of her? Sure, Peter knew in his head the two weren’t close yet but was it the good guy thing to leave her in the dust and become an Avenger? And either way, Peter hadn’t even had his first part-time job, let alone he still had almost three full years of high school left. Peter turned to Mr. Stark, “Thank you, Mr. Stark. But I’m good.”

Tony looked taken aback, he looked a bit shocked. “You’re good? Good? How are you good?”

Peter breathed in, “Well, I mean, I’m… I’d rather just stay on the ground for a little while. I just made another friend that’s been running patrols with me, and… and I can’t leave her behind. It’s not the good guy thing to do. I’m the Friendly-Neighborhood Spider-Man, and Renegade and I--we’ve gotta protect the little guy, no one else is gonna. Right?”

Mr. Stark took off his sunglasses, he looked shocked. “A friend?” He raised his hand up and pinched his nose, “That’s beside the point. You’re turning me down? You better think about this,” He raised his hand and pointed to the beautifully crafted suit, “Look at that. Look at me. Last chance, yes or no?”

Peter didn’t hesitate in his choice, “No.”

Tony nodded, “Okay. It’s kind of a Springsteen-y, working-class hero vibe that I dig. And for a friend? Heart melted. Uh, Happy will take you home. Yeah?” Peter kept a dopey grin.

“Yeah,” Happy said, he turned to Peter who stood between him and Mr. Stark. “Mind waiting in the car? I need a minute.”

Peter nodded, “Thank you, Mr. Stark.”

Mr. Stark gave a single nod, “Yes, Mr. Parker. Very well.” Peter leaned forward and shook Mr. Stark’s hand firmly. 

“See you around,” Peter said. He spun on his heel and began walking towards the garage where the car was.

Mr. Stark let out a grunt that caused Peter to spin around again, “That was a test, right? There’s, uh, nobody back there?”

Mr. Stark’s eyes went the slightest bit wider, “Yes, you passed. All right, skedaddle there, young buck.”

Peter grinned, “Thank you, Mr. Stark. Thank you.”

Mr. Stark smiled a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, but rather made him appear nervous. “Yeah, thank you.” Peter smiled. He walked away this time for good and he made his way to the car.

**∽•∽•∽**

The week finally had evolved back to something normal by Tuesday, which felt odd considering school weeks started on Mondays. Calliope felt reassured when Peter had finally met back up with her for their patrol after school on Monday. She felt that after a week, which given was a short period of time, she really had learned more skills--like breathing while running instead of just running out of breath.

Once the sun had set and the lights of the city had turned on the high-fived and wished each other well. “Tomorrow?” Cal had said, Peter nodded.

“See ya, Renegade.” They headed off in different but similar directions. Calliope found her alleyway and changed clothing quickly, discarding her suit into her backpack and heading home.

She opened her door and stepped inside, she kicked off her shoes and stepped into the living room where her mom and Alf watched the TV peacefully. “I’m back,” Calliope said.

“Welcome back,” Alf said, Calliope could hear his grin.

“Oh, Cal, sweetheart,” Her mother began, causing Calliope to jump slightly, “You got some mail from Stark Industries, I set it on your bed. It seems important, also if you won a meet and greet with Tony Stark--please let me be your plus one.”

Calliope laughed at her mother’s abruptness. “I’ll make sure you know.” Calliope walked into her bedroom and threw down her backpack. She grabbed the letter from her bed and opened it quickly.

_ ‘Dear Calliope M. Green, _

_ We are pleased to confirm your acceptance into the Stark Industries Internship Program (SIIP). A meeting has been set up for tomorrow morning with Tony Stark to discuss the responsibilities and duties you will have in SIIP. _

_ Your school day will not be interfered with this meeting, as we have already contacted your school to excuse you for the hours necessary. There will be a car for you at Midtown School of Science and Technology at 7:30 am, Thursday. Please contact the number below to confirm your interview.  _

_ Feel free to contact our number with any questions you may have.’ _

Calliope hadn’t breathed since the first line. Her face turned red. “Oh my god.” She read it over again, “Oh my god!” Calliope shot out of her room and ran to the living room. Her mom and Alf looked up intently to her words. “I got an interview for an internship!” She said, she felt like a child with how happy she felt.

“That’s amazing! Tell me more,” Colette said, she had pushed herself away from Alf. Calliope’s mom always had a bit of a crush on Tony Stark, and anything with his name in or on it sparked her interest.

“I have a meeting set up tomorrow to discuss what this internship is all about,” She spoke, “It’s during school hours, but the letter said it should all be worked out.”

“I swear to god if you meet Tony Stark and don’t get as much as a selfie or a signature from him, you are no longer my child.”

“Oh, damn, Colette,” Alf said. “Anyway, Cal, get some rest for your interview. You may have some big things in store.”

“You got it, Alfie,” Calliope hugged her mom and Alf goodnight and walked back to her room to call the number on the letter. She pulled out her phone and typed in the numbers that were written on the paper.

The phone rang before someone picked up. The voice was gruff, “Happy Hogan, is this Calliope Green?”

Calliope had to catch her breath, “Yes, I’m calling to tell you I am good to go for the interview tomorrow,” She heard a confirmation from Happy on the other end. “Is there anything I need to know for tomorrow?”

“Just be at the school by 7:30, and bring your suit. Boss wants to see what you came up with.” Calliope didn’t speak for a minute.

Her voice became more hushed than it had been, “How--”

“We will discuss tomorrow. It’s Renegade, right? Interesting choice of name.”

“Thank you? I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah. Tomorrow. I’ll be driving a big black car. You’ll know it when you see it.” The line went dead. This wasn’t gonna be a normal interview.  _ Shit. _

The car was there, as promised, in the morning. A man stood outside in a suit, he looked the slightest bit stressed but still put together. Calliope walked up to the car. The man looked her up and down. “Calliope Green?” It was the same voice from the phone call.

“Happy Hogan?” Calliope asked, causing the man to nod.

“Alright, we better get upstate to the Compound,” Happy opened the door for Calliope to climb in. He walked around himself and climbed into the front seat. Calliope watched from the back as he buckled himself up and began driving.

“So, how did you know I was, uh, Renegade?” She asked and noted the divider between the two was still open.

“I just made the call,” He began, “Boss told me what to say, he’s the guy that knows.”

“Oh,” Calliope said, she ran a hand through her hair to destress herself. “Is that a good thing?”

“Sure?” His eyes scoured the road, they glanced up for a second long enough to make contact with Calliope’s, “I only work for Tony, save your questions for him.” The divider began to close. Calliope’s hands folded and she stared out the window. She puffed out a breath and kept her cool.

The view of the Avengers Compound coming into view felt like what Calliope had dreamed of since she was a kid. Given, the Avengers Compound hadn’t been a thing since she was a kid, but the premise had stayed. The white building looked so elegant, the grass appeared greener compared to the building. Happy drove towards the building and into a garage where he parked. He walked around and opened the door for her.

“Alright,” He began, Calliope climbed out of the car. “Boss should be right up the elevator--”

“Hi, Happy.” Calliope turned to see Tony Stark standing in the midst of all his cars. Happy jumped at the presence. She couldn’t help but glance over all the gorgeous sleek metals to avoid direct eye contact. He coughed slightly, and Calliope made eye contact with him. “And you must be Calliope Green.”

“Y-yeah,” Her voice shook. Tony walked a bit closer and held out his hand. “That’s me.” She grabbed his hand and shook it. Tony grinned just slightly. “So, how did you find out about me?”

“Would it be wrong to say a little birdy told me?” He continued his smile. Calliope didn’t know if it was wrong to read him to figure out how. “Your friend, Spider-Man. He’s a good kid, wanted to make sure if I helped him out, you were too.”

“I should have known Peter had a big mouth.” She said and moved her hand to her hips. Tony appeared the slightest bit shocked.

“Did he tell you who he was?”

Calliope laughed, “No way. It was a simple deduction. I know Peter from school, and he dropped a vial of web fluid in front of me.” Calliope coughed, “He doesn’t know who I am, though. He’s smart but very oblivious.”

Tony nodded and turned, wrapping his arm around Calliope’s shoulders and walking her to the elevator. Happy walked in tow behind them. “Enough about him. You. Renegade.” Calliope’s heart sped up. She felt as if she were about to be chastised, punished as if she were a child again. “You work well with Peter. I looked over some of the surveillance footage on the street, and the pair of you worked so smoothly. But, I do have to ask--what do you do exactly? It’s some weird telepathy thing, right?”

Calliope nodded and watched as they turned into the elevator, the door unmoving until Happy also walked on board. Tony instructed the AI, Friday to bring them to the main level. “I have telepathy, and I think some variance of mind control?”

“You think, or you know?”

“Well, I would give you a direct answer, but I haven’t really messed much with what I can do, I’ve been able to do it for a few years but I only really just started using it.” Calliope awkwardly laughed. “I figured out I could do it when I was, like, ten, and the only person I told was Alfie--”

“Alfie?” Tony asked. 

Calliope jumped slightly, “Oh! Alf is my mom’s husband. He’s like my best adult friend.” Calliope shook her head briefly, “He was pretty okay about it, he let me practice with his thoughts--but I never really figured out there’s so much I just don’t know, until a few weeks ago.”

“Well, we better maximize your capabilities, right?” Tony walked forward from the elevator. “Can I see your suit? I’m interested to see what you have.”

Calliope moved quickly to take her backpack off her shoulder. “Of course!” The warmth of Tony’s hand left a cold spot. She moved the backpack to her front and unzipped it to tug out the different parts of the lame suit. She tugged out the windbreaker and handed it to Tony, followed by the leggings, “Sorry.”

“You’re good, kiddo,” Tony said, even though he flinched at the sweatsuit flying in his direction. Calliope laughed slightly and tugged out the mask and headband last. “This it?” He asked, looking at the pieces in his hands.

“Yeah,” Calliope said, an awkward grin covered her face. She looked down briefly toward her shoes. “And these Nikes.”

Tony threw the leggings over his shoulder and tugged on the thin material of the windbreaker. “This isn’t very protective, is it?”

Calliope’s cheeks heated again and turned a bit red, “Well, no--but I’m working on it! I started learning metalwork.” Tony grinned and placed the windbreaker over his shoulder and grabbed the mask from her.

“Hot glue and,” Tony flipped the mask and messed with the fabric, “athletic wear? Interesting choice.”

Calliope laughed. “Thanks.”

Tony grabbed the headband, which in his hands looked bare--and quite frankly, kind of childish. Tony moved it around his hands. “You made this yourself?” Calliope nodded at Tony’s words. He rubbed his finger over the edge that Calliope had spent hours sanding down to make sure it wouldn’t cut her head. “This is good. Do you think if you had access to more material you could make something like,” Tony pointed to the end of the room where a cylindrical container began opening at his point. “This?”

A suit roughly in Calliope’s size began to show. It was navy blue, smooth fabric that looked tough, the chevron pattern from her windbreaker carried through the design on the torso, shoulders, arms, and knees. Calliope stepped forward in awe. She stared at the suit and glanced up at the mask and headband which were a white metal, that appeared the slightest bit like the style of Tony’s Iron Man suit, including a diamond-shaped pendant, similar to the one she had crafted, that appeared to glow just slightly. “Whoa.” Calliope stepped forward and soaked in the sight.

“You like it?” Tony said, walking right up behind Calliope. She nodded, which happened to be the only thing she felt capable of doing. She felt Tony’s hand back on her shoulder, “I want you and Underoos--Peter, to stay safe. He just stopped something really big, and if that happens again--I don’t want either of you hurt. That would be on me if anything happened to him and by association--also you.”

“I want you and Peter to check in with me,” Calliope kept nodding as if it were her only function, “Which is where the internship comes in. I want you two up here at least once a week to tell me what’s up and make sure your suits are up to date,” Tony walked forward slightly so his eyes met with Cal’s, “And, are you like gymnastically inclined, or good at fighting? I didn’t see anything in the footage and you need to have that skill.”

“I took a self-defense class when I was like 10,” Calliope whispered, “And I dreamed about being Kim Possible from, like, the age of four.”

Tony breathed in and ran a hand through his hair, “Okay, so do you think you could come up here for a little bit longer so we can get you trained up?”

“I’m telling you right now, you could tell my mom you’re adopting me and she would say okay,” Calliope said causing Tony to quirk his eyebrow, “She loves me, she also just happens to love you.”

“Huh,” Tony nodded with a grin. He raised his fingers and pinched his chin. “So you should be good if I say, give her a call or send a signed note?”

“It’s like you already know her,” Calliope smiled at Tony, “Also I can work around most anything, I mean Peter and I patrol almost every day--but if we work out a solid schedule, my mom will say yes to anything.”

Tony laughed and reached out a hand. “Well, It’s great to welcome you to SIIP.” Calliope tugged out her phone.

“I’m sorry, but my mom also asked if I could get, like, a selfie or video or something?” Calliope shook her head. “Whether or not I get disowned counts on this.”

Tony nodded and grabbed Calliope’s phone and opened the camera. “Oh, I’m gonna have to duck to get us both in frame, huh.” Tony didn’t move at all but rather began recording himself with a smile. “Hello,” Calliope filled in her mother’s name, “Colette, beautiful name. Your daughter here is one of the smartest people I’ve met, behind me, of course. Anyway, your daughter has agreed to be a part of my intern program and I’m very excited to ask her to get me coffee and shred my papers.” Tony finally leaned in to capture Calliope’s shortness into the frame.

“Hi, mom,” Calliope said and smiled.

“If you need anything from me, just tell my newest intern,” Calliope pointed at herself at the words. “We can meet in person to discuss any time requests or any boring parent things.” Tony flashed a peace sign, followed by Calliope throwing one of her own. He stopped the recording and handed the phone back to Calliope. “So,” Tony looked down to his watch, “It’s only 10 o’clock, you want to take a peek at the lab? We can look at your suit in more detail.”

“Definitely,” Calliope said.

“Good thing,” Tony began taking Calliope towards a new area, passing Happy along the way--who still followed in tow, “Had you said no, this would have been very awkward.” Calliope twisted her brows and pursed her lips, and turned toward a door that began to open up.

Her eyes went wide.


	6. Chapter Six: The Way Tony Star Totally Upstaged a Teenager

“Oh my god.” Calliope looked around the lab. Sleek metal tables lit up with light blue holograms filled the entryway. A little person-shaped figure lit up, fully autonomically correct. Tony grinned and grabbed Calliope’s shoulder to walk her in a little further. She looked at the figure, nearing closer she noticed the features were startlingly like her own. A little bit longer of a face, the same large eyes and puckered lips. There were a few decorative chevrons on the front of the outfit the tiny person wore.

“FRIDAY, pull up the schematics of Renegade Mark 2,” Tony spoke. The little suit grew taller, and it’s tiny face grew to show a mirror image of Calliope but in Tony’s suit. It slowly went full color, as if it was flooding from the bottom and reaching the top. “You like it? I went with your colors from the security tapes.”

Calliope nodded. The sleek navy blue base looked almost regal under the white and bits of silver. She glanced up. “It’s beautiful,” She looked at the face. “Is there a mask?” Tony almost seemed to jump at the mention of it.

“Yes, there is, kiddo.” Tony looked at the hologram, “FRI, pull up R-Mark 2 with the mask.” The small hologram Calliope tugged out a mask and covered her little face. The mask looked sleek, a white-grey color, not the same silver as the other detailing of the suit, but with a good level of matte finish. “I tried to leave some of your most memorable components as main parts of your suit, hence the color scheme, the mask, the chevron--though I did add a fair amount of my Tony Stark touch.”

Calliope still stared at it. Her eyes scanned it up and down, still as mesmerized by its appearance as she had been before. “I seriously feel like this is a fever dream.” Calliope lifted her hand to turn the model, she flinched and her hand halted before she could touch it. She turned to Tony, “Can I touch?” Tony’s face changed to one of almost a proud nature, nearly indistinguishable between if he was proud of himself or the fact that he had a teenager so interested in something he had created.

“Of course.” Tony said. Calliope reached her hand forward almost before he could finish what he was saying. Her hand moved in the air, almost naturally they way it moved so fluidly and gently. She caused the hologram to turn, seeing the continual silver chevron wrap around the waist of the bodice, a second wrapping and facing upward. There were a few scattered around the suit, all wrapping completely around each major joint. She swished her hand and moved it so the hand raised, she viewed the fingerless gloves, they ended just under the knuckles in a chevron pattern--appearing to fit extremely comfortably. 

“Hey, kid, why don’t you try it on? I might as well show you how it works.” Calliope’s eyes went wide at Tony’s suggestion. He showed a sliver of his teeth in a toothy grin, “You like that idea, I’m assuming? I’ll go grab the real thing. Stay put.” Calliope’s face didn’t change as Tony turned and left the lab, the door sliding open smoothly and closing promptly behind him. She looked at the model suit again. It must have acted as some sort of hypnotical object, pulling in Calliope’s attention until Happy coughed.

“Holy shit!” Calliope jumped and turned to see the bodyguard standing off towards the side. Happy seemed startled by her outburst.

“Language, Green,” Happy said, he kept a stoic appearance-unmoving in his unwavering bout of no emotion.

“Wh-when did you get here?” She stammered, her heart still pounding from the remembrance of Happy’s presence.

“I’ve been here, It’s literally my job.” Happy folded his arms. The door opened back up and Tony came in with the navy blue suit in his arms.

Tony’s eyes scoured the pair up and down, “Man, you guys look tense.” Tony walked towards Calliope and tossed the suit in her direction. She grabbed it from the air. It was light and looked significantly looser than the modeled version. She moved it around in her hands, feeling the tougher material of the built-in soles. Calliope straightened the suit, the feet fell clunkily, despite hitting the floor with almost no sound. “There’s basically a sound muffler in that bad boy, also--they’re anti-scuff. Gotta keep up on that appearance.”

“Sweet.” Calliope fiddled with the suit, “How does this work?”

Tony chuckled and set down a few stylish-looking metal pieces onto the nearest workbench. He walked towards Calliope and took the suit. “See how loose it is?” Calliope nodded. “Put your arm in the sleeve,” Calliope slid her arm in, the rest of the bodysuit hanging. “Tap it with your other hand twice.” Calliope followed the instructions and the loose material immediately shrunk to her size comfortably. She stared down at the cascading navy blue material, which almost shined under the lab’s lights, different from the way it appeared matte at a distance.

“This is beautiful,” Calliope smiled at the way the suit clung attractively to her slim arm, yet still felt comfortable. She lifted her head, remembering the metal pieces Tony had brought it. “I hate to sound repetitive, but where does the mask,” Calliope lifted the non-suited hand over her face, “Uh, happen?”

Tony turned and grabbed the metal pieces from his workbench over towards Calliope. “I made these so you can wear them almost full time.” He lifted up one of the pieces between the pads of his pointer finger and thumb for her. The piece was a bright silver, that had a curved long chunk, that looked similar to the way a tubed hearing aid appeared, but flatter and thinner, excluding a small bulb-like area at the bottom, and hook-like area at the top which had been fashionably suited to look like a new style earring-cuff. He placed the piece in her hand and grabbed the other piece, and moved it near his ear. “Now, these little guys are pretty easy to put on,” He tilted the silver so it curved with his own ear. “It will basically cup the back of your ear, and I don’t make anything that I wouldn’t find comfortable--” He placed the second cuff in her hand. “Try them on.”

Calliope grinned, and put the cuffs on, they felt as if there was no weight on her ear, curving and cupping perfectly. She looked back up at Tony. “This is right, right?”

“Yes,” Tony said with a nod, “The same way you got that suit to fit? Tap the cuff twice, either side works.” Calliope reached her hand, the one that was in the suit, still, and tapped the lower side of the cuff, where the bulb was. The cuff immediately expanded, covering her nose, mouth, also expanding to cover her forehead, the way she had seen in the other room, and chin, and finally reaching over to connect to her other ear. She breathed in, feeling the way it was still easy to breathe. “There’s an air filter in there, and why don’t you try talking?”

“Do I still sound normal?” She spoke, her voice still as clear as if she wasn’t wearing the mask. She laughed a bit at it.

“I can’t promise normal, but you did sound the same way you did without the mask.” Tony laughed at himself. “Here’s the best part.” Tony turned toward a holographic image behind him, he moved his fingers rearranging something before finally tapping on what appeared to be a switch-like animation. “DAVID?”

At his words a blue light shone across the mask, lighting up over her eyes. “Oh my god.” She read the words,  _ DAVID  _ in bold letters and  _ Developments About Varying International Data _ in smaller letters below. 

“Welcome, Calliope,” A kind Irish voice filled her ears.

“I know, it’s not my best acronym, but it gets the job done. Anyway, Dave here has you equipped with plenty of cool stuff, and he has plenty more capabilities if you come up with any. Right now, he’s equipped with a force-field type shield. It’s activation right now is just by voice. You can test it out with the arm that’s in it.” Tony pushed a workbench aside, which opened up a good area of the lab.

“DAVID, activate force field,” Calliope stated, a shield-type of force blocked her entire height and a fair amount of surrounding area. She barely moved at the movement of the shield. Tony stood on the other side and smiled as he tossed a tiny object at Calliope, the tiny object immediately reflecting. The shield deactivated under her command and she nodded in approval. “That is amazing.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Tony smiled. “Everything will come off the same way it went on.” Calliope tapped the cuff twice, the mask and headband immediately retreating. She patted the suit as well, its material immediately loosening. She slipped it off her arm and held it in both her hands. “You can wear whatever you want under the suit too,” Tony said awkwardly, “I design all my suits to be able to wear whatever underneath. Now, I can’t promise your clothes won’t come out wrinkled once you take the suit off--but you don’t have to worry about changing extremely quickly.”

“Thank god,” Calliope folded the suit neatly. She looked down at the suit and remembered why she was at the Avengers Compound. Calliope looked back up, “So how am I gonna tell Peter that I’m Renegade?”

Tony lifted a finger to his chin. “You don’t technically have to,” He moved his hand back down, placing it on his hip. “I mean, I could always skip a board meeting and introduce you two on a patrol.” 

Calliope nodded, “We’re supposed to patrol today,” She moved her hand to her phone that was tucked into her back pocket, she grabbed it to read the time. “In like three hours.”

“Oh my god,” Tony said, he lifted his hand. He turned to find Happy, “Call May, I’m picking the kid up.” Calliope stifled a laugh at the idea. Tony turned back to the wild pink-haired child and stuck a thumbs up. “Hope that’s good with you, cause we’re doing it, also text him to meet you somewhere.”

“Will do, in the school or out?” Calliope said as she tugged out her phone.

“Eh, I don’t give a shit,” Tony said. 

Calliope laughed and nodded, “We’ll meet him in the lab.”

Calliope stood in the lab fully dressed in her super suit next to Tony. The second Peter walked in he stared at the new suit Calliope wore. “By default, kid, if one of you gets hurt it’s still on me. Especially if I just let you get away without any safety features on you.” Tony lifted a hand where he held a large paper bag and threw it at Peter who caught it with ease, but failing to make it anything less than awkward.

He opened the bag and saw his own suit that he had been without for about a week. “No,” he said, clearly stunned. He looked back u to where Tony and Calliope stood.

“You better believe it, Underoos,” Tony sighed and moved his hands to his hips. “Look, I know for fact you’re gonna go out no matter what I do--but I can only hope to keep you two safe.”

“Th-thank you Mr. Stark,” Peter but the suit back into the bag, “I mean especially helping Renegade too, I mean, that’s so cool of you.” Peter smiled and looked at the bag excitedly before his eyes widened to such an extreme amount even a sugar glider would have been jealous. “Wait--I--” He turned to Tony, “Was I supposed to let her know I’m--” He gestured his hand, tugging in the middle and ring finger while leaving the remaining fingers out as if to be slinging webs.

“Kid, she knew within about point five seconds,” Tony laughed, “Speaking of which, you wanna take the reigns for a second?”

Calliope laughed, “Sure,” speaking from behind the mask was significantly clearer than her mess of hot glue and athletic shirt, but she lifted her hand and tapped twice on the mask anyway revealing her face. Peter’s eyes grew again.

“Cal?” He said, his voice still laced with the shock his eyes were glazed over with.

Calliope lifted a hand and waved awkwardly, “Surprise? I mean I really thought the pink hair would give it away.”

Peter struggled to respond, he let out a few different syllables but no intelligible language.

Tony coughed a little, “Okay, back to me for a minute,” Calliope and Peter both looked at him, “While this whole thing is… precious, I need to know you two are gonna be safe. I want to have you two come up to the compound when you can so you can check in and upgrade your suits. I can also set up rooms for each of you if you ever need a place to crash,” Tony breathed, “As part of the internship.”

Calliope and Peter nodded, Peter began to speak, “You might have to talk to May, I kinda told her I lost the internship after you, uh, took the suit…”

Tony nodded and waved a hand around, “I’ll have Happy call her, he can make something up about how it was a misunderstanding,” Tony turned to Calliope expectantly. “You good with that, Green?”

Calliope nodded, “Hell yeah. I mean now that my life isn’t dictated by migraines I am down for anything.” Tony stared at Calliope with a touch of confusion, but shrugged it off.

“Anyway, I’ll be in contact,” He shook Peter and Calliope’s hands. “from the way you two put it, it sounds like Queens needs it’s patrollers.”

Calliope smiled and raised a fist to Peter for a fist bump. Peter smirked slightly and raised his own fist and bumped hers. Tony patted each of their shoulders and left to head back up north.

Calliope turned to Peter, her lips upturned into a smirk, “Well, wanna go save Queens from some bike thieves?”

**∽•∽•∽**

_ two months later _

“Hey, Spidey!” Calliope shouted, fully dressed up in her blue suit, as she ran down the street behind a thin, pale woman with blonde hair who was carrying some form of stolen goods from a jewelry store, “Incoming on your left!”

Peter swung down in front of Calliope where a second road met the one Cal and the perp had been running down. He immediately webbed her feet so she stuck to the ground and ceased her movement. He walked forward and began tying her hands up, so he could place a note on her for someone of higher authority to come and get her evaluated. Calliope grabbed the bag from her and peeked in, her eyes being met with small white orbs strung together on a thin string.

“Pearls. Of all the jewelry you could have taken, you chose pearls?” Calliope scoffed. The woman scowled at her.

“Ren, stop helping her,” Peter said as he attached the sign with a small amount of web fluid. “You shouldn’t encourage a life of crime.”

“I’m not encouraging a life of crime, I’m encouraging,” Calliope looked at the woman who still scowled at her, “Samantha? Yeah, I’m going with Samantha,” She looked back up to Peter, “I’m encouraging Samantha to see herself in a higher light.” She looked at the woman and smirked the tiniest bit, and with a little bit of a tune sang, “Shine bright like a diamond.”

In the spot Peter should have laughed, a scream replaced the noise. Calliope and Peter, both fully suited, looked at each other before looking towards the scream, the smiles quickly leaving their faces. The hopped to their feet and moved to the area where they began to see a fresh set of cracks leading to an alleyway.

“What do you think caused this?” Peter asked as he stepped over the cracks that still laid flat but spiraled out from the depths of the alley. Their eyes wandered up and soon their eyes fell upon a blonde girl who appeared to be stirring from some concussion-worthy fall.

“My bet’s on her.” Calliope said as she began slowly stepping forward. Calliope stooped down lower and got close to her face, there were no scratches or scrapes and her hair managed to fall rather nicely around her. “What is she?”

Peter stepped forward and also squatted towards the ground, and toward the girl. “I don’t know. I haven’t gotten the chance to ask her yet.” 

Calliope, despite the small amount of grin she had at the comment punched him in the shoulder lightly. “I know that, dipshit, I was thinking out loud.” Her voice was fueled with a faux anger that could fool someone into thinking her and Peter highly disliked each other and they didn’t in fact spend nearly every weekend at the compound together, staying up til early hours messing with lab equipment that Tony had most likely told them, not to mess with.

“Hey I may be dumb, but I’m not stupid,” Peter smiled under the mask, but Calliope knew well enough that stupid grin he had. They both looked back down at the girl who was attempting to open her eyes. The pair attempted to lean back before she fully opened them but were unsuccessful, and were met with a pair of sea green eyes. And a scream. A loud one. Nearby a fire hydrant exploded and began to coat the street in gallons of water.

Calliope’s eyes expanded in size. “Holy shit, we gotta call Tony.”


End file.
